Arabsat orders launch with SpaceX

Arabsat’s 6A satellite will be launched by SpaceX in 2018. The contract was signed in Paris last week during the Euroconsult Space Business Week conference.

Arabsat 6A is a heavyweight satellite which will be located at 30.5 degrees East, and when in position will take Arabsat’s fleet to 10 operational satellites.

Lockheed Martin is building the satellite under a twin-satellite contract that also includes the HellasSat-4 craft. Importantly, this Arabsat satellite will have the fleet’s first “flexible” digital processing on board and which includes the option to reconfigure a payload and change frequencies should a signal be jammed.